Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Yeah, what is this multi-key bullshit? Even my first car, the horrible Daewoo Nexia opened everything with a single key.
 
I just watched a HubNut review of the Renault 21 the other day. Their mid-80's executive sedan, aka Eagle Medallion in the US. Apparently those things have separate door and ignition keys too. I'm guessing everything else in (western) Europe had one common key by then.

However Renault was an early champion of remote IR locking. Win some, lose some.
 
My A6 had 2 keys. One for the ignition and one for the doors/everything else. But thats only because the GDPO said he broke a key off in the door lock cylinder and was too cheap to replace all of them with a matching set.
 
However Renault was an early champion of remote IR locking. Win some, lose some.

At least on later models, they wired the immobilizer to the IR remote. If you unlock the car using the key in the door, the car won't start. I bet rental companies with fleets of Renaults loved this back in the day.

When the remote breaks, there's a secret konami code you can enter using the lock/unlock button on the dashboard to disable the immobilizer.
 
On an unrelated note, I had to buy new winter tires this year and had them put on yesterday. Continental ContiVikingContact 7 is like driving with fuzzy bear slippers. So quiet and smooth compared to my summer tires... which also are high-end Continentals, one inch bigger and one notch wider.

I obviously haven't tried them in winter weather yet but they've been getting great reviews so I have high hopes.
 
We're cleaning the house and my mum wants me to throw out most of my car magazines. They're mostly mid-2000's magazines that I'll let go of, some I'll be putting for sale, but some will go to the paper trash container. Now, amongst those that I planned throwing away are some 90's Italian Gente Motori magazines. Would anyone be interested if I scanned some pictures from those magazines? Perhaps digitise them all together, although that might not be legal? Is the physical edition of the magazine still around? I see that https://gentemotori.it/ is still an active site, but I tried looking into Italian Wikipedia and couldn't find a page about Gente Motori (only about the Gente magazine, which I assume is a parent magazine to Gente Motori).

Oh, and if anyone cares about Croatian car magazines from mid-2000's, I guess I could scan them since they're mostly from two now defunct magazines, but then, that was the era of high-speed internet, so I don't take that those would be interesting enough.

Okay, quoting myself because I have an update on something I've posted earlier.

So, I decided that those magazines, even if they have some potentially interesting pictures and ads, are not worth scanning nor digitising. Instead, I decided to post them on a Croatian version of Craigslist, just to see if anyone is interested in giving me beer/coffee money or even less for some of them. I posted a ton of Croatian magazines I'm willing to let go and the Gente Motori magazines.

Now, I feel quite awkward posting this, because it probably just shows what a nitpick (or whatever's the right word) I am, but if anyone's interested in any of them (that'd probably only be Gente Motori), PM me. I can show you my profile on the aforementioned classified ads site and scan anything you want. Again, the Gente Motori is probably all that's substantial from my collection. Gosh, now that I've put it into internet words, I feel even more awkward for the terribly inconvenienced photons and electrons.
 
I cannot believe that "there is no enough wrong with my car to fix it in shop class" is a problem I am having. My beetle and fiat are somehow fine, the subaru has more problems so far.

I am playing back in my head the Volkswagen dealer buttering me up so much. Is the beetle Valuable to people who are not insane? HILARIOUS. It will cost me 600$ to insure in MA this year, with a surcharge because it is worth like 5$.

Anyway I am taking suggestions for making the beetle better, because apparently I have that luxury. (Note here I say BETTER not GOOD or FAST, so I mean be better as a fun convertible to cruise around in, so I am thinking things like "brakes that stop it's fat ass faster")
 
It's only a nice project for "the wright person". Are you the wright person?

Anyway I am taking suggestions for making the beetle better, because apparently I have that luxury. (Note here I say BETTER not GOOD or FAST, so I mean be better as a fun convertible to cruise around in, so I am thinking things like "brakes that stop it's fat ass faster")
Is this 2008 again?
 
Is this 2008 again?
Well I mean. My entire life was basically suspended for a good 6+ years and I am attempting to slowly restart it, so basically yes. :tease:

It's actually kind of horrifying in retrospect? Like it's amazing how much of what is basically your personality is tied up in interests and hobbies and when you can't do them anymore because of something like illness it's like someone removed a chunk of you.
 
It will cost me 600$ to insure in MA this year, with a surcharge because it is worth like 5$.
WTF? How is registration so expensive in MA? Even in soviet New Yorkistan it’s under $200, with no relation to how much car is worth.
 
I cannot believe that "there is no enough wrong with my car to fix it in shop class" is a problem I am having. My beetle and fiat are somehow fine, the subaru has more problems so far.

I am playing back in my head the Volkswagen dealer buttering me up so much. Is the beetle Valuable to people who are not insane? HILARIOUS. It will cost me 600$ to insure in MA this year, with a surcharge because it is worth like 5$.

Anyway I am taking suggestions for making the beetle better, because apparently I have that luxury. (Note here I say BETTER not GOOD or FAST, so I mean be better as a fun convertible to cruise around in, so I am thinking things like "brakes that stop it's fat ass faster")

Stop Tech brakes, stainless steel braided brake hoses, upgraded suspension so you can take corners like a pro.
 
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